Humanity is a beautiful, creepy game about crowds

The trailer for Humanity is 75 seconds long. In that time, I decided it was the best and most beautiful thing I’d seen for months, then figured it might not be for me at all, and finally realised that it was going to make me very sad and a little bit scared. I just watched it again and even though I’m sort of convinced it’s trying to trick me into engaging with a puzzle game, I definitely want to play it right now, whatever it might be. Take a look.

It’s all quite tranquil, in a slightly sinister sort of way, until the beatings start. And then the shooting starts and it’s suddenly very alarming.

Going from tranquil to alarming so smoothly in just over sixty seconds is a sign of high-performance art, I’d say. I’m still slightly dubious about those big arrows and tumbling streams of people that make me think Humanity might be a bit more like Lemmings than I’d like, but this is definitely something I want to play.

Developers tha ltd describe Humanity as a “crowd action game” rather than a puzzle game, though “action” may simply refer to the fact that the masses of humanity never pause. They walk, ever onward, sometimes looking like commuters in an underground transport system, sometimes looking like shoppers in a mall. Then they fall, then they fight, then they kill.

I like people, I really do, but this has put me off the idea of braving the crowds to do my Christmas shopping. Makes me want to curl up all alone in my bedroom. You can see more of it, and some other art projects, right here.